More houses could be affected by slip

CRACKS in land around a St Clair property — which led to the evacuation of four houses last week — appear larger than first thought.

Four dangerous building notices issued by the Dunedin City Council, to one house in Allandale Rd and three in Motu St after a landslip was discovered on the Allandale Rd property last week are still in place.

Further geotechnical assessments will be carried out today after it was discovered the area cracking appeared to extend further than was originally thought.

Council building

solutions manager Paul Henderson said two other properties might also be affected by the cracking and their owners had been contacted.

There was still no timeframe for when the dangerous building notices might be lifted and it would depend on when engineers’ reports were received, he said.

Temporary plumbing and drainage work was carried out at the weekend to prevent any further slips before any longterm solution could be put in place, he said.

Police have been asked to step up patrols in the area to provide extra security for the vacant houses.

Council network contracts manager William Clifford said cameras were used to check stormwater and wastewater pipes in the area and the resulting footage would be reviewed during the next few days.

Although heavy rain is thought to have caused the slip, the pipes had been checked as a precaution, Mr Clifford said.